Factions The Liberation Army of the South (Spanish: Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920.

[1] During that time, the Zapatistas fought against the national governments of Porfirio Díaz, Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerta, and Venustiano Carranza.

In response, village leaders including Emiliano Zapata, Gabriel Tepepa, and Pablo Torres Burgos formed a local defense committee.

[3] The Morelos' defense committee originally aligned with Madero due to the promises of land reform in the Plan of San Luis Potosí,[5] with Torres Burgos being appointed commanding officer.

Nonetheless, Zapata's eventual victory put him dangerously close to the capital, and helped convince Porfirio Díaz to resign the presidency.

[1] During the interim presidency of Francisco León de la Barra, Madero insisted Zapata disarm and disband his forces.

Tensions flared when the hacendado governor attempted to block Zapata from taking up his promised position as commander of the local police.

[8] In July, news of a plot to assassinate Madero in the neighboring state of Puebla alarmed Zapata, and he rapidly re-mobilized to march to the politician's defense.

[8] Although Madero attempted negotiations to avoid violence, on August 23 Huerta and Ambrosia Figueroa (now allied with the regime) began military operations against the rebels.

The small rebel force evaded destruction by first fleeing to Puebla, then reappearing in Morelos once Huerta had moved his army to follow them.

However, Emiliano Zapata continued his rebellion under the Plan of Ayala (while expunging the name of counter-revolutionary Pascual Orozco from it), calling for the expropriation of land and redistribution to peasants.

"[14] In mid-March 1919, General Pablo González ordered his subordinate Jesús Guajardo to begin operations against the Zapatistas in the mountains around Huautla.

"[18] In spite of González's attempts to sully the name of Zapata and the Plan de Ayala during his 1920 campaign for the presidency,[19] the people of Morelos continued to support Zapatista generals, providing them with weapons, supplies and protection.

"[21] Zapatistas were given important posts in the interim government of Adolfo de la Huerta and the administration of Álvaro Obregón, following his election to the presidency after the coup.

Zapatistas had almost total control of the state of Morelos, where they carried out a program of agrarian reform and land redistribution based on the provisions of the Plan de Ayala and with the support of the government.